X Y Jet 'not 100 percent,' to miss Breeders' Cup Sprint
X Y Jet, a one-turn specialist who figured to factor in the pace of Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint, will miss the $2 million race after coming out of his most-recent workout with soreness.
Brian Trump, racing manager for co-owner Rockingham Ranch, confirmed the news Sunday first reported by BloodHorse.
X Y Jet last raced June 30, winning the Smile Sprint Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park. An incident of curb — ligament swelling in the hock — prevented the 6-year-old son of Kantharos from prepping for the Breeders’ Cup. Trainer Jorge Navarro had hoped to bring the speedster in off works.
“Basically, we got the call, and Jorge said, ‘Bottom line is, he’s not 100 percent, and I don’t want to take a chance on the biggest scale of running him if he’s not 100 percent,’” Trump relayed. “We all agreed. The horse has been so much. He’s had three knee surgeries on the same knee, and there’s just no point in putting him in a situation where he’s not going to be successful because he’s not 100 percent.”
X Y Jet worked five furlongs in 1:02 flat on Friday at Monmouth Park.
The flashy gray remains in training to continue his campaign later this fall and winter in Florida. Navarro has also mentioned goals of going back overseas, with X Y Jet a close second to Mind Your Biscuits in the 2018 Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1). He was also second in the race in 2016.
“We’re going to probably stretch the timing between works — give him some extra rest, make sure he’s perfect and see how he comes out of that work,” Trump said of the near future. “Maybe instead of seven days or 10 days, we stretch it out to 15 days, but that’s all up to Jorge. Jorge will make those calls.”
Despite being plagued by injuries, X Y Jet, who’s also campaigned by Gelfenstein Farm, has managed to make 22 career starts, winning 10 of them. His earnings are past $1.5 million.
Rockingham Ranch will still be heavily represented in the Breeders’ Cup. California-based Sprint contenders Roy H and Distinctive B, along with Turf Sprint runners Stormy Liberal and Richard’s Boy, will put in final works Monday before shipping to Churchill Downs on Tusday. Roy H and Stormy Liberal won their respective Breeders’ Cup races in 2017.